America's geographic distance from the Western Front along with their late entryinto the Great War made the way American writers and artists responded to thewar different from their English and European counterparts. While he used frontfootage for his Allied-commissioned 1918 Hearts of the World, WD Griffith shotmost of the movie in California. Similarly, while avoiding front line combat,the English clown Charlie Chaplin made his tramp imagine himself a hero on thewestern front in Shoulder Arms (1918). While during the war the Committee onPublic Information (America's propaganda ministry) demonised all things German(frankfurters and sauerkraut turned into hotdogs and liberty cabbage) theytransformed not only the enemy but also the imaginary space of the war itself.

Howard Hughes' recreation of World War One aerial combat in Hell's Angels (1930)was a major influence on George Lucas' dogfights in Star Wars (1977). Further,Star Wars has in turn been a major influence not only on war and science fictionmovies but on video games involving air or space fighting (as trench warfaremakes poor game play, this may be one of the most enduring legacies of WWI inthe American imagination). The imaginary space of the war is typified byGeorge Schultz's character Snoopy climbing up onto his dog house to imaginehimself as the World War One Flying Ace in mortal combat with the Red Baron.He typifies the enduring American imaginary (and aerial) relationship to thewar.

This panel will accept all papers dealing with popular American imaginings ofthe First World War, either during or after the war itself. Papers on popularAmerican conceptions of the war including propaganda, film, comic books, videogames, food, pin-ups, magazines, novels, children's books etc. are all welcome.

All 300 word proposals should be emailed to Anurag Jain at a.c.jain_at_qmul.ac.ukby September 8th, 2005 (9/8/5)